INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE SYMPOSIUM

2012 International Sculpture Symposium

2012 · Tongling, China

Group portrait in front of the 2012 international copper sculpture exhibition opening ceremony banner.

Symposium participants pose beside a tall sculpture in the park.

Guests seated at banquet tables during the symposium.

Participants hold certificates on stage at the 2012 sculpture exhibition.

Delegates seated around a conference table with national flags.

Sculpture garden plan showing paths, planting and artwork locations.

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Creating Together in Tongling

In 2012, we once again welcomed artists from different countries to Tongling, this time for the Second China (Tongling) International Copper Sculpture Exhibition. Xinjiuding’s creative base became a place to work together, share experience and explore different approaches to sculpture. Through discussion and practical work, artists and our team developed the 35 selected proposals into public sculptures for the city.

Open Call

Nearly 800 proposals

Selected Works

35 permanent public sculptures

Creative Base

Xinjiuding, Tongling

Xinjiuding’s Role

Xinjiuding helped organise the programme and provided its creative base. We supported artists from model development through production to installation, bringing the right skills and people to the needs of each work.

01 · WORKING TOGETHER

Working Side by Side

Discussions about a model’s proportions or the character of a surface gave artists and our team a way to work through ideas together. We shared practical experience, tried different approaches and refined the works side by side. Looking at the sculptures together also helped us learn from each artist’s perspective and understand what they wanted to express.

Two participants examine a small golden sculpture model.

A sculpture model is measured with a tape measure.

An artist shapes a clay sculpture inside the workshop.

An artist works on the face of a large clay sculpture.

An artist refines a small reclining figure model.

A worker develops a branching sculpture with copper-coloured rods and circular elements.

An artist models a small sculptural form by hand.

An artist shapes a small figurative model in the workshop.

An artist works on a sculpture model at a workshop table.

Participants discuss a large sculpture in the sculpture park.

A group examines an outdoor sculpture together.

A participant stands beside a large green abstract sculpture.

Four participants stand together in the sculpture park.

Two participants look towards an abstract sculpture beside the water.

Five participants pose together around a bench.

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02 · FROM MODEL TO SCULPTURE

Sculpture at Full Scale

Developing a sculpture at full scale meant reconsidering its proportions, volume and structure. We worked with the artists to resolve these questions as each form took shape. The technical approach followed the needs of the individual work, with close attention to the artist’s decisions about form and detail.

A participant stands beside a finished abstract metal sculpture in the park.

A large curved sculptural form under development in the workshop.

A large geometric sculpture under development inside the workshop.

A large stylised figure under development in the workshop.

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03 · TAKING PLACE IN THE CITY

Bringing Sculpture into the City

From lifting and positioning to work on the bases and final adjustments, installation called for close coordination and care. Our team helped bring each sculpture into place, keeping both the schedule and the details in view. In Tongling’s International Copper Sculpture Garden, the works became part of a public setting where people could encounter them at full scale.

Workers attend to the base of an upright sculpture during installation.

A crane lifts a tall sculpture during outdoor installation.

Two participants stand beside a completed framed sculpture.

A crane positions an abstract sculpture on a grassy mound.

Scaffolding surrounds the support of a green figurative sculpture.

A tall sculpture and pedestal during installation.

Participants examine a green sculpture at close range.

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04 · INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE

Sharing Experience, Building Connections

The conversations extended from individual sculptures to the programmes that supported them. Artists and symposium organisers from different countries met in Tongling to look at work, share experience and learn about one another’s approaches, both around the conference table and in less formal conversations.

During the 2012 programme, Tongling hosted the inaugural meeting of the International Sculpture Symposium Alliance (ISSA). Xinjiuding helped initiate and support the alliance’s early development. Bringing people together in this way reflected our belief that sculpture grows through the exchange of ideas, experience and different ways of working.

A participant speaks at a conference table beside a Russian flag.

A participant speaks into a microphone beside an Estonian flag.

Participants examine photographs and project material spread across a table.

A group portrait outdoors with blue flags.

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Explore Public Art

Explore freestanding sculptures and site-specific works in our Public Art selection.